Aromatics Extractive Distillation Process by Uhde GmbH

In Uhde’s proprietary extractive distillation (ED) Morphylane process, a single-compound solvent, N-Formylmorpholine (NFM), alters the vapor pressure of the components being separated. The vapor pressure of the aromatics is lowered more than that of the less soluble nonaromatics.

Nonaromatics vapors leave the top of the ED column with some solvent, which is recovered in a small column that can either be mounted on the main column or installed separately.

Bottom product of the ED column is fed to the stripper to separate pure aromatics from the solvent. After intensive heat exchange, the lean solvent is recycled to the ED column. NFM perfectly satisfies the necessary solvent properties needed for this process including high selectivity, thermal stability and a suitable boiling point.

Uhde’s new single-column morphylane extractive distillation process uses a single-column configuration, which integrates the ED column and the stripper column of the conventional design. It represents a superior process option in terms of investment and operating cost.